Mahabharata 3.201.99 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 99
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
ये पापानि न कुर्वन्ति मनोवाक्कर्मबुद्धिभि: । ते तपन्ति महात्मानो न शरीरस्य शोषणम्
ye pāpāni na kurvanti manovākkarmabuddhibhiḥ | te tapanti mahātmāno na śarīrasya śoṣaṇam ||
युधिष्ठिर उवाच—ये पापानि न कुर्वन्ति मनसा वाचा कर्मणा बुद्ध्या च, ते महात्मानः खलु तपस्विनः। न शरीरस्य शोषणमेव तपः॥
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
True tapas is ethical restraint and purity across mind, speech, action, and discernment; mere physical mortification or emaciation is not the essence of austerity.
In the Vana Parva’s reflective discourse, Yudhiṣṭhira articulates a dharma-centered definition of austerity, shifting emphasis from external bodily hardship to inner moral discipline.
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